Michelle Griep

I grew up watching the cartoon Underdog. You know, the cute little beagle who donned a cape and righted the world’s wrongs? No one expects a puppy to save the day.

 As I grew older, I discovered books. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my all-time favorite. Why? Jane is a heroine who knows and speaks her own mind despite her low position in society.

It’s because of Jane and Underdog that I wrote THE DOCTOR’S WOMAN.

 I know what you’re thinking. Seriously? A stupid cartoon and a made-up tortured heroine are your inspiration?

 Yep. And here’s why . . .

 The reason I watched so much TV and read so many books is because I was the nerdy girl. The outsider. The one who desperately wanted to hang with the in-crowd but my front teeth were too big and my family couldn’t afford the name-brand clothing. The present was too painful to live in, so I immersed myself in history, learning all I could about the land and the people who lived before me. That’s when I first came across the Dakota Sioux Uprising of 1862.

 Of course, time went on, and I did grow past that awkward stage. But I never outgrew my love of history. I’m an Anglophile at heart and began writing stories set in Regency England.

 But then opportunity knocked, rapping out an opportunity to set a story in nineteenth-century America. What better place than to set it where I’d lived my whole life? In the past. In Minnesota. As an underdog and low on society’s rungs.

And so was born THE DOCTOR’S WOMAN. I envisioned a strong female lead who would swoop in and save the day, but I also wanted to give equal time to a strong female Native American, because truly, that’s what the story is about—the horrific treatment of the friendly natives.

 By highlighting past wrongs, hopefully they won’t be repeated in the future. And that, my friends, is why I write historical fiction.

ABOUT THE STORY:

 EMMALINE LARSON is no stranger to loss. Living in a land as wild as the natives who roam it, she’s lost her father, her betrothed, and when DR. JAMES CLARK crashes into her world, she loses the last thing left to her — her heart.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the author of THE CAPTIVE HEART, BRENTWOOD’S WARD, A HEART DECEIVED, UNDERCURRENT and GALLIMORE. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or www.writerofftheleash.blogspot.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Enter to win a signed  paperback book of The Courageous Brides Collection by commenting below!